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Religious Accommodations And – And Among – Civil Rights: Separation, Toleration, And Accommodation, Richard W. Garnett Nov 2015

Religious Accommodations And – And Among – Civil Rights: Separation, Toleration, And Accommodation, Richard W. Garnett

Richard W Garnett

This paper expands on a presentation at a recent conference, held at Harvard Law School, on the topic of “Religious Accommodations in the Age of Civil Rights.” In it, I emphasize that the right to religious freedom is a basic civil right, the increased appreciation of which is said to characterize our “age.” Accordingly, I push back against scholars’ and commentators’ increasing tendency to regard and present religious accommodations and exemptions as obstacles to the civil-rights enterprise and ask instead if our religious-accommodation practices are all that they should be. Are accommodations and exemptions being extended prudently but generously, in …


Religious Liberty: Between Strategy And Telos, Kristine Kalanges Mar 2015

Religious Liberty: Between Strategy And Telos, Kristine Kalanges

Kristine Kalanges

It has become woefully commonplace to observe that threats to religious freedom are increasing in the United States and globally. In response, scholars, human rights activists, and policymakers are engaging courts, political institutions, and the public square to make the case that religious liberty merits robust protection. Historically, these arguments were crafted primarily in theological and political terms. But as the number of those disclaiming religious affiliation rises and the political climate becomes ever more gridlocked, the search is on for new ways to make religious freedom relevant to state leaders and salable to a diverse public. Thus, during a …


Taking God Seriously: Why Religion Is Essential To The Defense Of Religious Human Rights, Kristine Kalanges Mar 2015

Taking God Seriously: Why Religion Is Essential To The Defense Of Religious Human Rights, Kristine Kalanges

Kristine Kalanges

The immediate challenge is to transform the “difficult choice” between religious liberty as a universal human right and peaceful coexistence of diverse legal political cultures. The development of a world legal tradition is an important component of that transformation. World legal tradition emphasizes the comparative moral and historical bases of law in the subject spheres of study. Its integrative jurisprudence necessitates consideration of the contributions made by religion, politics, and historical circumstance to the evolution of law. While the elements of a world legal tradition are to be found in the intellectual and institutional resources of the Western and Islamic …


Talking Points On Report Of The Special Rapporteur On Freedom Of Religion Or Belief, Kristine Kalanges Mar 2015

Talking Points On Report Of The Special Rapporteur On Freedom Of Religion Or Belief, Kristine Kalanges

Kristine Kalanges

To support the Holy See in its work at the United Nations, the Caritas in Veritate Foundation, in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, collaborated in preparing reports on current issues discussed at the United Nations. The Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy, a joint venture between the Center for Catholic Studies and the School of Law at the University of St. Thomas, supports this collaboration, helps identify experts to draft these reports and, with the authors' permission, makes them available on its website. In …


La República Laica Y Sus Libertades. Las Reformas A Los Artículos 24 Y 40 Constitucionales, Javier Martín Reyes, Pedro Salazar Ugarte, Paulina Barrera Rosales, Vladimir Chorny Elizalde, Ana Gaitán Uribe, María De Guadalupe Salmorán Villar Mar 2015

La República Laica Y Sus Libertades. Las Reformas A Los Artículos 24 Y 40 Constitucionales, Javier Martín Reyes, Pedro Salazar Ugarte, Paulina Barrera Rosales, Vladimir Chorny Elizalde, Ana Gaitán Uribe, María De Guadalupe Salmorán Villar

Javier Martín Reyes

The Secular Republic and its Freedoms: Constitutional Amendments to Articles 24 and 40.


Searching For The Soul Of Judicial Decisionmaking: An Empirical Study Of Religious Freedom Decisions, Gregory C. Sisk, Michael Heise, Andrew P. Morriss Feb 2015

Searching For The Soul Of Judicial Decisionmaking: An Empirical Study Of Religious Freedom Decisions, Gregory C. Sisk, Michael Heise, Andrew P. Morriss

Michael Heise

During the past half century, constitutional theories of religious freedom have been in a state of great controversy, perpetual transformation, and consequent uncertainty. Given the vitality of religious faith for most Americans and the vigor of the enduring debate on the proper role of religious belief and practice in public society, a searching exploration of the influences upon judges in making decisions that uphold or reject claims implicating religious freedom is long overdue. Many thoughtful contributions have been to the debate about whether judges should allow their religious beliefs to surface in the exercise of their judicial role. Yet much …


Corporate Piety And Impropriety: Hobby Lobby's Extension Of Rfra Rights To For-Profit Corporations, Amy Sepinwall Dec 2014

Corporate Piety And Impropriety: Hobby Lobby's Extension Of Rfra Rights To For-Profit Corporations, Amy Sepinwall

Amy J. Sepinwall

In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court held, for the first time, that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) applied to for-profit corporations and, on that basis, it allowed Hobby Lobby to omit otherwise mandated contraceptive coverage from its employee healthcare package. Critics argue that the Court’s novel expansion of corporate rights is fundamentally inconsistent with the basic principles of corporate law. In particular, they contend that the decision ignores the fact that the corporation, as an artificial entity, cannot exercise religion in its own right, and they decry the notion that the law might look through the corporate …


Conscience And Complicity: Assessing Pleas For Religious Exemptions After Hobby Lobby, Amy Sepinwall Dec 2014

Conscience And Complicity: Assessing Pleas For Religious Exemptions After Hobby Lobby, Amy Sepinwall

Amy J. Sepinwall

In the paradigmatic case of conscientious objection, the objector claims that his religion forbids him from actively participating in a wrong (e.g., by fighting in a war). In the religious challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, on the other hand, employers claim that their religious convictions forbid them from merely subsidizing insurance through which their employees might commit a wrong (e.g., by using contraception). The understanding of complicity underpinning these challenges is vastly more expansive than what standard legal doctrine or moral theory contemplates. Courts routinely reject claims of conscientious objection to taxes that fund military initiatives, or …